Puerto Rico’s utility head resigns over slow repairs

Friday

Nov 17, 2017 at 4:11 PMNov 17, 2017 at 4:13 PM

By Steven Mufson (c) 2017, The Washington Post

PUERO RICO — The executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority resigned Friday amid questions about the slow repairs more than eight weeks after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the electrical grid.

PREPA head Ricardo Ramos Rodríguez had come under close questioning about a $300 million contract the utility signed with the tiny Whitefish Energy firm instead of turning to larger more experienced networks of utilities that traditionally rush to aid storm-ravaged areas. The Whitefish Energy contract, whose rates were substantially higher than those paid to others, was later canceled.

“The executive director is a professional. He has worked hard to restore the system in Puerto Rico, but understands that this is a context that has greatly distracted from what could be recovery, ” Rosselló told reporters.

The governor said that he was recommending that the PREPA board of directors name Justo Gonzalez as interim director. During the news conference, the governor expressed frustration with the pace of power restoration to Puerto Rican households and businesses.

“We have faced a number of obstacles,” Rosselló. “But I expect an effective transition.”

In recent weeks, Ramos had defended his decisions, saying that Whitefish had volunteered its services and had experience in rugged terrain like that in much of the commonwealth.

The ability of PREPA to manage money and contracts has also drawn attention from Congress, which is worried about how billions of dollars of recovery money might be handled.

Ramos had also come under scrutiny because of a local Puerto Rican controversy. The news outlet El Vocero reported that during the post-hurricane emergency Ramos had hired a friend Pedro Juan Morales Gonzalez, a lawyer and engineer. Rosselló said that contract would also be cancelled.

The disarray at the top of PREPA dealt a new blow to Puerto Ricans, more than half of whom remain without electricity. The storm damage has imposed costly repair burdens on a utility that was already struggling with more than $9 billion in debt, poor service and sky-high rates more than twice the national average.

Even before it was hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, PREPA said it needed more than $4 billion to overhaul its outdated power plants and reduce its heavy reliance on imported oil.

But the hurricanes have exposed transmission problems too. PREPA has 2,478 miles of transmission lines from its power plants and 31,485 miles of distribution lines, which carry electricity shorter distances from the grid to customers.